I really was not trying to be facetious when I revivied this thread, so sincere apologies to C&L if it came across that way.

The point is, what on paper appeared to be a monster team (C&L did an extensive and excellent job of analysis) turned out to be worse than a dud. It shows that the line between a "veteran" and just plain "old" team is very close.

Mitch has done an incredibly poor job mixing in young legs with a veteran/ old team. He has consistently chucked draft picks chasing middling talent as he tries to rebuild on the fly.

I think Mitch has gotten way too little blame for this disaster. I used to view him as one of the elite GMs in the game, but his moves in the last few years suggest otherwise.

Unfortunately, he will continue to try to rebuild on the fly as long as Kobe is around, because Kobe will demand it. Maybe it will work, but the odds are against it.